Recently, Suite101 had a chance to talk to Torus Games, developers of the upcoming Wii video game, Zoo Hospital. Nicole Goodfellow (producer), Blake Mizzi (lead designer) and David McIntosh (design) all contributed to the interview, which reveals how the team is planning to improve upon the original DS game's formula.
Suite101: First, for those unfamiliar with Zoo Hospital for Nintendo DS (your previous game), describe the basic premise of Zoo Hospital.
Torus Games: "In Zoo Hospital you are a Vet “in training” who has been asked to help save your Aunt’s Zoo from closing and being turned into a mini-golf course! Your objective is to tend to sick animals to help restore the zoo’s former status by treating the animals in surgery. This improves your Zoo’s Rating and attracts new animals; there are many new animals in the Wii version (plus something a little special)."
Suite101: What are the biggest differences between Zoo Hospital for Nintendo DS and your new title, Zoo Hospital for Wii?
Torus Games: "Apart from the gorgeous 3D graphics that [have] really helped to bring the animals alive on the Wii, Zoo Hospital Wii has a revised interaction system where the player can visit the animal in its enclosure to pat and feed it. Zoo Wii also offers a revision of the mini-games that were in DS and, of course, utilizes the dynamic controls of the Wii Remote. Another new feature is the Zoo Rating system that determines a dynamic level of difficulty and creates a far more challenging game experience for the player, determined by how they play the game."
Suite101: One critique some reviewers had of the DS version was that it was too short and too easy. Are any changes being made to the game to make it longer or harder on Wii?
Torus Games: "That was something we really wanted to address in this revision, so Zoo Wii has a new story mode that takes the player through 7 chapters. Key events really drive forward the narrative, such as a virus epidemic, and new characters are introduced to help out. We’ve also added a dynamic difficulty level that can also adjust for multiplayer Co-Op. We’re happy with everything we’ve managed to get in this time. We’ve predicted that the story mode will take approximately 15-20 hours to complete for the average user."
Suite101: Describe the game's cooperative multiplayer mode. How does bringing another player into the mix change the gameplay?
Torus Games: "If you bring a friend into the surgery, with that extra pair of hands the dynamic difficulty adjusts and ensures that both players have plenty of wounds to mend and parasites to hunt. The game has been designed with multiplayer Co-Op in mind from the beginning and that shows. All in all Zoo Hospital is a blast with friend or family member. Also, the Multiplayer doesn’t affect the story mode at all; both players will be able to play through all of the events together."
Suite101: Finally, one of the biggest praises reviewers had for the DS game was about its 3D graphics. What kind of upgrades are being made to the game to make it look even better on Wii?
Torus Games: "All of the animals have been recreated as higher-poly models suitable for the Wii graphics engine… So, yes, they look superb! Also, there’s a greater range of animations for each animal – they really come to life on the Wii. New fur and feather shaders have really brought a number of animals to a level never seen before on the Wii, and new water effects make this a very pretty game. We’re really happy with the way it’s turned out."
Gamers interested in playing Zoo Hospital should look for the game when it releases later this year. Gamers may also be interested in the recently released animal-related WiiWare game, Critter Round-up from Konami.
Jonathan Coley - Jonathan Coley wrote about the topic of video games for Suite101. Before coming to Suite101, he covered the video games beat for a variety ...
